Worlds in the making: The evolution of the universeArrhenius, Svante
Science
Worlds in the making: The evolution of the universe
Arrhenius, Svante
Cosmogony
The old volcano of Monte Venda, near Padua, affords an interesting
example of this type. We can observe there how the sedimentary
limestone has been changed by the lava, which was flowing over it, into
marble to a depth of about 1 m. (3 ft.) Sometimes the limestone which
is lying over the lava has also undergone the same transformation,
which would indicate that lava has not only been flowing above the edge
of the crater, but has also forced itself out on the sides through
the fissures between two layers of limestone. Massive subterranean
lava streams of this kind are found in the so-called lakkolithes of
Utah and in the Caucasus. There the superior layers have been forced
upward by the lava pressing from below; the lava froze, however,
before it reached the surface of the earth, where it might have formed
a volcano. Quite a number of granites, the so-called batholithes,
chiefly occurring in Norway, Scotland, and Java, are of similar origin.
Occasionally it is only the core of congealed lava that has remained of
the whole volcano. These cores, which originally filled the pipe of the
crater, are frequent in Scotland and in North America, where they are
designated “necks” (Fig. 7).
[Illustration: Fig. 7.—Mato Tepee in Wyoming, U. S. A. Typical
volcanic “Neck”]
The so-called cañons of the Colorado Plateau, with their almost
vertical walls, are the results of the erosive action of rivers. A
drawing by Dutton shows a wall of this kind more than 800 m. (2600 ft.)
in height, through four fissures of which lava streams have forced
their way up to the surface (Fig. 8). Over one of these fissures
a small cone of volcanic ashes is still visible, while the cones
which probably overtopped the three other fissures have been washed
away, so that the veins end in small “necks.” Evidently a very fluid
lava—strong percentages of magnesia and of oxide of iron render the
lava more fluid than an admixture of silicic acid, and the fluidity
is further increased by the presence of water—has been forced into
the fissures which were already present, and has reached the surface
of the earth before it froze. The driving force behind them must have
been pretty strong; else the lava streams could not have attained the
necessary velocity of flow.
[Illustration: Fig. 8.—Clefts filled with lava and volcanic
cone of ashes, Torowheap Cañon, Plateau of Colorado. Diagram.]
When the Krakatoa was blown into the air in 1883 half of the
volcano remained behind. This half clearly shows the section of the
cone of ashes, which has been but very slightly affected by the
destructive action of the water. We find there in the central part the
light-colored stopper of lava in the volcano pipe, and issuing from it
more light-colored beds of lava, between which darker strata of ashes
can be seen.
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